Biography

William “Bill” Burck is Co-Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP and Co-Chair of the firm’s Investigations, Government Enforcement and White Collar Criminal Defense Practice. Mr. Burck, who is a member of the New York Bar, is also resident in the New York office. Benchmark Litigation named Mr. Burck the “White Collar/Investigations/Enforcement Lawyer of the Year” for 2017, noting that Mr. Burck is lauded by peers as “the best of the best” and one of the country’s top trial lawyers. Mr. Burck is co-leader of the practice that has been named, amongst other accolades, "Transatlantic Investigations Team of the Year" for 2017 by The American Lawyer, “White Collar Practice of the Year” two years in a row for 2015 and 2016 by Law360, and “Most Impressive Investigations Practice of the Year” for 2015 by Global Investigations Review (GIR).

The New York Times has called Mr. Burck an expert in cross-border cases, and he is described by leading legal periodicals as a “very charismatic trial lawyer” and a “great strategist in adversarial proceedings.” The National Law Journal has called him a “Trailblazer” in white collar defense and corporate investigations. Additionally, Chambers 2016 notes that Mr. Burck is described as “masterful, passionate and articulate” in the courtroom and is praised for his “appropriate sensitivity to client needs and objectives.” The national press has further described his advocacy for clients as “brilliant, asymmetrical defense.”

Mr. Burck is a trial lawyer who represents companies, boards of directors and senior executives in investigations, sensitive matters, corporate crises, litigation and other disputes involving the federal and state governments of the United States (including the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), District Attorney’s Offices, State Attorneys General, other law enforcement and regulatory agencies, and the United States Congress) and governments of Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Mr. Burck is former Special Counsel and Deputy Counsel to President George W. Bush in Washington, D.C., and a former federal prosecutor in New York City. In his role as a senior official at the White House, Mr. Burck provided legal advice to the President and senior White House officials on a wide range of issues, including congressional and other government investigations, national security and foreign affairs, the financial crisis of 2008 and complex constitutional questions. During his time as a senior official in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice and as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Mr. Burck investigated and prosecuted a variety of white collar and other criminal cases. He was a member of the trial team in United States v. Martha Stewart, and was lead prosecutor in a number of jury trials.

Notable Representations

Selected Recent Public Criminal & Civil Matters:

Odebrecht Group – Lead U.S. counsel to Latin America's largest construction conglomerate in its historic global settlement with the United States, Brazil, and Switzerland resolving allegations of corruption in a dozen countries. The global settlement was unique in both its speed and comprehensiveness, and it introduced the concept of measuring a company’s monetary penalty in the FCPA context by its financial condition and ability to pay.

FIFA – Lead counsel to the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in connection with investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and Swiss law enforcement authorities of alleged bribery and corruption in international football world.

United States v. Robert McDonnell & Maureen McDonnell – Lead counsel to Maureen McDonnell, former First Lady of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a federal criminal case charging Mrs. McDonnell and her husband, former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell, with political corruption, extortion, obstruction of justice, and bank fraud. Post trial and on appeal, the First Lady's conviction for obstruction was dismissed with prejudice by the trial judge and her other convictions, along with the former Governor's, were thrown out by the Supreme Court of the United States. The Department of Justice subsequently dismissed with prejudice all charges against the Governor and Mrs. McDonnell.

Banco BTG Pactual – Lead counsel to the Special Committee of the Board of Directors, which investigated allegations of corruption and misconduct against the Bank, Brazil's leading investment bank, and its former CEO in connection with Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato). After conducting an exhaustive investigation of the facts, we concluded there was no basis to conclude the allegations against the Bank were accurate or credible.

AIG – Lead counsel to AIG in False Claims Act litigation in which AIG is alleged to have misled the US federal government about aspects of the business operations of a former life insurance subsidiary called ALICO in connection with obtaining financing from the US Treasury and Federal Reserve during the financial crisis of 2008. Obtained a declination from the Department of Justice and won dismissal with prejudice of the lawsuit against AIG in federal court. Represent AIG in related litigation and investigations involving the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) and other state and federal regulators.

EFG Bank – Lead counsel to one of Switzerland's largest private banks in DOJ's investigation of tax evasion by US taxpayers using the Swiss banking industry. EFG was one of over 100 Swiss banks that participated in the DOJ-Swiss program for resolving disputes with DOJ, and the bank obtained a non-prosecution agreement and one of the most favorable settlements in the program.

Trafigura – Lead counsel to the global oil trading company in various matters, including class action litigation alleging a scheme to improperly raise prices of fuel oil to residents of Puerto Rico in which we obtained a dismissal from the court of the lawsuit against Trafigura, and a pending class action litigation alleging manipulation of crude prices by a group of large oil companies.

United States v. Joseph Sigelman – Lead counsel to Joseph Sigelman, a successful American entrepreneur who founded and served as co-CEO of an oil services company called PetroTiger, in the highest profile Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) trial of recent years. In what was described by the national media as a “striking victory for the defense,” the U.S. Department of Justice agreed in the middle of trial to drop all of the most serious charges against Mr. Sigelman, including those relating to substantive bribery, kickbacks, defrauding investors and money laundering and wire fraud, permitting Mr. Sigelman to receive no jail time and avoid the 20 years in prison prosecutors had sought.

FBME v. U.S. Treasury Department – Counsel to FBME Bank in litigation challenging on statutory, Administrative Procedure Act and U.S. Constitutional grounds the U.S. Treasury Department’s designation of FBME as a “financial institution of primary money laundering concern” under Section 311 of the USA Patriot Act. We obtained the first-ever preliminary injunction against the U.S. Treasury Department in this type of proceeding.

SEC Investigation of Net1 – Lead counsel to Brian Mosehla, a member of the board of directors of Net1, a South African company listed in the United States, in an FCPA investigation of Net1 and the board. The SEC formally dropped its investigation, bringing no charges against Mr. Mosehla or Net1.

IRS Political Targeting Scandal – Counsel to Steven Miller, former Acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in investigations by the Department of Justice and Congress of alleged political targeting by the IRS. The Justice Department closed their investigation without bringing charges against our client.

United States v. Ram Kamath – Counsel to Ram Kamath, accused of participating in a conspiracy to import non-FDA approved prescription pharmaceutical products into the US. We obtained a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) from the Department of Justice, dismissing all charges against our client prior to trial. DOJ rarely agrees to a DPA for an individual defendant, particularly after the defendant has already been indicted, as was the case here.

United States v. Andreas Bachmann – Lead counsel for Andreas Bachmann, a Swiss banker charged with assisting U.S. taxpayers evade taxes while working at a Credit Suisse subsidiary. Obtained from the U.S. Department of Justice an agreement to permit Mr. Bachmann, a Swiss citizen, to return home to Switzerland immediately after plea and sentencing without serving a single day in prison.

PPG Industries v. Jiangsu Tie Mao Glass Co. Ltd. – Lead counsel to PPG Industries, a leading US industrial paint and coatings company, in trade secret litigation against a Chinese company that is alleged to have conspired with a former PPG employee to steal PPG’s intellectual property. This civil litigation parallels a federal criminal case brought by the US Department of Justice in United States v. Rukavina.

Americans for Prosperity v. Kamala Harris – Counsel to Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a non-profit issue advocacy organization, in litigation against the State of California alleging that California’s requirement that non-profits disclose membership lists violates the U.S. Constitution.

United States v. Kim Dotcom et al. – Lead counsel to Kim Dotcom and Megaupload Limited, one of the world’s largest online cloud storage services, in the U.S. Department of Justice’s largest prosecution of alleged criminal copyright infringement.

Selected Recent Non-Public Criminal Investigations:

Representation of several major Swiss Private Banks and individual bankers in the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigations of their cross-border banking activities, including allegedly facilitating tax evasion by U.S. taxpayers.

Representation of several large Brazilian multinationals in connection with the multi-jurisdictional investigation of alleged bribery involving the Brazilian oil giant, Petrobras.

Defense of a multi-billion dollar US hedge fund in connection with an SEC investigation of alleged fraud by the fund against certain investors.

Representation of a large US multinational industrial products company in FCPA investigations regarding operations in China, Taiwan, Mexico, and Turkey.

Defense of a multinational commodities trading company in investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office of alleged violations of US trade sanctions on doing business in Iran, Sudan and Cuba.

Defense of a former CEO of a major US healthcare company in connection with an investigation by the US Federal Elections Commission of alleged campaign finance violations.

Representation of a multinational logistics and transportation company based in Switzerland in an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice of alleged violations of the FCPA.

Representation of a multinational technology and manufacturing company before the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice in an investigation of alleged FCPA violations in its operations in India, China and Southeast Asia.

Defense of one of the world’s largest insurance companies in a criminal investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for allegedly making false submissions to regulators.

Defense of a former senior campaign official in an investigation of political corruption in New York City by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).

Representation of a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Europe in an investigation of alleged FCPA violations in its operations in Southeast Asia.

Defense of a senior executive of a large European bank in connection with a tax fraud prosecution brought by the Department of Justice.

Defense of a multinational airline services company based in Europe in an investigation of alleged kickbacks and fraud in Asia and Europe by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Representation of a bulge-bracket investment bank in an investigation of alleged tax and wire fraud by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Representation of a major US/European telecommunications company with extensive operations in Africa in claims for fraud against contractors in South Africa, Nigeria, and the US.

Representation of a major financial firm in an investigation by the SEC of alleged securities fraud.

Defense of a multinational commodities trading company in CFTC and FSA investigations of alleged market manipulation in the energy market.

Selected Recent U.S. Congressional Investigations:

Representation of Steven Miller, former Acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, in connection with Congressional investigations of alleged targeting of conservative groups by the IRS.

Representation of a senior executive of CGI, the company contracted to build the ObamaCare website, in Congressional investigations of the website’s roll-out problems.

Defense of the U.S. military's largest suppliers of jet fuel to troops in Afghanistan in a Congressional investigation of alleged corruption in Central Asia and follow-on investigations conducted by foreign authorities.

Defense of a leading US law firm in a Congressional investigation of its representation of a class of Native American plaintiffs suing the US government for billions of dollars.

Representation of AIG in Congressional investigations of executive compensation and bonuses at its subsidiary AIGFP in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008.

Representation of a large U.S. oil-spill cleanup company in connection with Congressional and other government investigations of the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico.

Representation of a senior Obama Administration official in Congressional investigations arising from the Department of Energy’s funding of Solyndra and the company’s subsequent bankruptcy.

Education

Yale Law School (J.D., 1998)

Yale Law Journal:

Editor-in-Chief

Yale University (B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, 1993)

Admissions

The District of Columbia Bar; The State Bar of New York; United States Supreme Court; United States Courts of Appeals: Second Circuit; Fourth Circuit; United States District Courts: Eastern District of New York; Southern District of New York; DC District Court